Breville Dual Boiler for Home Use

• 

  [Deactivated] on 22/01/2020 - 13:23

  I paid $1079 with the Breville Grinder 4 years ago. No probs yet.

• 

  Skramit on 22/01/2020 - 13:26

  I had a Breville DB for a while and loved it. Easy to use, was reliable and never broke down. I've now switched to Nespresso Pods and haven't looked back just because I like the quick and easy coffee in the morning in 30 seconds before I drive to work.

  My father in law has some fancy pants Italian thing that was 5x the price, very chrome looking and shiny knobs and pipes. Cant recall the brand. It looks great but it is impossibly complicated to use and get the coffee just right. I've tried it many times myself and cant get the perfect crema, maybe with a bit more practise I could, and try some different beans and grinds. He swears by it like it's the greatest thing he's ever owned, but his coffee is horrible (weak and watery, no crema, not that I've told him so :P). I'm sure the fancy Italian boilers are good machines in an experts hands, but for every day casual use, it's not worth it IMO.

  The Breville is a good decision IMO if you want easy use with a real coffee machine.

• 

  conan2000 on 22/01/2020 - 14:03

  +1

  Not sure why people find the Italian machines so complicated. Mine has one lever to pull water for a shot, a dial for hot water, and another one for the milk steamer. The grind of the coffee makes a bigger difference than anything else, so once that was adjusted on my grinder, perfect coffee every time. Life is too short for bad coffee!

  I had a Sunbeam before this which was about $750, it made no bad coffee, but could never get a good crema. It died at about 4.5 years of use (and felt like it was on its last legs for probably 6 months before that), so I'd expect Breville would be similar quality. The Italian machine is 6 years old now, and has not shown any issues yet.

• 

  Abaddon on 22/01/2020 - 14:35

  I'd also consider the Barista express, it's cheaper and the grinder is a great bonus.

  Have had one in my workplace for three years now, churning out an average of 30 cups a day and no problems apart from changing one rubber O-ring in the steam wand ($4, 10 minute fix).

  Also have one at home with no issues (but it only makes ~5 cups a week). Another colleage bought the same machine about 8 months ago, similar home usage to me, again no issues.

• 

  bluntman on 22/01/2020 - 14:58

  I love my bes920, and purchased, like many other things, on the basis of the many glowing comments here.

  Like others have said it is all in the grind, but the insert provided for pre-ground works really well and provides a very good quick and easy brew.

  I use a manual burr grinder, which are the best, however can be infuriating to use, but when you get the grind just right it cannot be beat!

  Hope this helps.

• 

  ShortyX on 22/01/2020 - 15:36

  OP - what about a Rancilio Silvia?

  And don't forget to add a grinder like the Breville smart grinder.

• 

  sjtem3 on 22/01/2020 - 16:04

  Thanks for the comments thus far!

  I have a mazzer super jolly that's served me well so far, so I'm under the impression that the grinder concern can be overlooked in my case.

  I like the look of the silvias - though if I were to get a single boiler I'd probably head toward a lelit. My reasons for moving past something like a silvia stems from the relative disinterest my wife shows to perfecting espresso. We currently use a trashy EM5000 which she loves because of the pressurised basket, and the simplicity of press and play.

  If I were to get a simple, though durable, italian machine my understanding is that the espresso produced can really significantly suffer if you're not willing to dial in your grind right, dose, and often temp surf. I already know she will literally never make another cup again if I demand those of her.

  Espresso is a hobby of mine, but we both enjoy the products of the hobby, and it's important for me that I look for a machine that can meet both our needs best.

  • 

    ShortyX on 22/01/2020 - 16:40

    If you're buying a BES920, it may be more complicated for your wife since it will require manual milk frothing and monitoring tamp pressure.

    In any case, once you've found the right grind and dose on the grinder, your wife only needs to worry about the tamp pressure.

    • 

      sjtem3 on 22/01/2020 - 16:43

      That's a fair point, and one worthy of a bit of discussion at home. Thanks mate.

      Any idea if machines like the silvia work with a pressurised basket?

  • 

    cplagz on 01/02/2020 - 11:05

    I suppose it depends where you go with an Italian machine. I personally have a LaMarzocco GS3 MP + robur-e and rarely touch my grind, but have a very good relationship with my roaster who knows what he's doing in producing consistent results across a variety of beans.

    I have 3* bes920 and a barista express in the family, two of the bes920 just replaced lelit 042s. They are hands down the best dual boiler on the market for the money, the next step you are looking at 2-3k IMHO as a lot of the other Italian machines in the 1500-2k mark are HX not duals.

    The manual milk steaming was an issue I faced with elderly users (parents +inlaws) but after a few quick lessons using water + drop of dishwashing liquid they were able to reproduce pretty good microfoam every time.

    I personally weigh my dose every time and time my shots, but the rest of the family in a blind test would probably struggle to taste the difference as they all drink milk based. It's only really noticeable if you drink espresso and black to a lesser degree.